Saturday, July 14, 2007

Trapped in Manhattan, Dancing in Williamsburg

Wouldn't this make a great photo for advertising get-away weekends to Manhattanites? Taken from the west end of Grand Street, Brooklyn, just north of the Williamsburg Bridge.

Right next door to several large-scale condos under construction, Williamsburg has the Feast of the Giglio. Several times over the past 10 days a group of 120 men has hefted the 4-ton, 75-foot-tall Giglio and danced with it to music from a 16-piece orchestra, which sits right there on the platform of the Giglio. It is a startling sight, particularly to someone who grew up with a religion whose chief requirement seemed to be sitting quietly and behaving oneself. Check local news outlets for times of the Dancing of the Giglio, and here for the hundred- year history of the Giglio in the United States.

About Me

Freelance lecturer on art history for 20+ years. Author of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide (New York Univ. Press, 2007 - now available in stores and on Amazon) and Forgotten Delights: The Producers (2003).